The Cheerleader on the Edge of Forever
by campy
Summary: A story in the Essential Ron-ness Universe. Kim and Ron had A Sitch in Time, even if they don't remember it. But what if another Middleton teen got an opportunity to change her past?
1. Prologue

Greetings, Kim Possible fans. I'm campy, back after another long hiatus with another side story of our favorite teen hero's basic, average high school pals.

Disclaimer: _Kim Possible _is property of Disney. This weird little thing is entirely my responsibility.

* * *

_Disney's  
_Jessica

_in_

_The _**Cheerleader **_on the _**Edge **_of _**Forever**

(A Story in the _Essential Ron-ness_ Universe)

_by  
_campy

* * *

**February school break week, Friday night, Middleton**

"... and then Commander Kane grabbed Dr. DeForest and stopped him from saving the beautiful, saintly social worker from being run over by a speeding truck, restoring the original timeline and keeping the Nazis from winning the war." Kyle Monson, Middleton High's football captain, wrapped up his summary of the classic sci-fi TV episode for his dining companions.

The group of eight Middleton High seniors were in the food court of the mall enjoying the diverse culinary offerings from the vendors there. They had just come from the adjacent cineplex where they'd all seen action movie maven Jimmy Blamhammer's latest space/time-travel-themed mega-blockbuster. Quarterback Kyle was with his girlfriend, the tall, long-legged volleyball star Megan Hadley. The other three girls were all Mad Dog cheerleaders. There was Kim Possible the auburn-haired teen hero with her best friend/boyfriend (and Kyle's teammate) Ron Stoppable; svelte, freckle-faced blonde Jessica Sundstrum alongside her steady, baseball star Steve Farley; and the curvaceous platinum blonde Tara Monroe and her beau, chess captain Kevin Guberman.

"So you're saying they completely ripped off that part of the movie from Space Passage?" Tara asked as she dipped a falafel ball in tahini.

"Pretty much, they just changed the Nazis into ninja apes and the truck into a comet," Kyle asserted, gesturing with his Cow 'n' Chow MaxiMoo burger.

"Kim actually met Commander Kane once," Ron observed between bites of his Grande GuacaNaco.

"You mean the actor?" Kevin said as he picked the Italian sausage bits off his pizza slice.

"Riiiight," Kim agreed, shooting her BF a stern look over a forkful of Muy Bueno Salad. Kim's friends knew she and Ron battled superfreaks now and then, but she didn't always tell them about the really weird stuff that sometimes happened during their Save-the-World missions — like getting caught up in the cable TV rerun dimension.

"So what was he like?" Kyle asked the redheaded teen hero. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Um ... he called me 'expendable' …" Kim replied.

The other six teens considered this factoid.

"Well," Megan offered, peeling back the wrapper of her lamb gyro sandwich with extra tzatziki, "I wish I had that time thingie Quinn used in the movie that let him go back four years into the past. It'd be fun to see what all you guys were like as freshmen."

"Oh, right," Steve said, as he added Kevin's discarded sausage bits to his own pizza slice. "You went to a different school then."

Megan nodded. "I transferred here from Cardinal Fermoyle Academy after sophomore year."

"Well, Meg, you could have been friends with these guys if you'd been here then," Jess said, pointing a ketchup-dipped French fry at the four boys, "but you wouldn't have known us girls very well. Cheerleaders and sports girls never mixed in those days. "

"Hey, what about me!" Kim protested. "I was on swim team for two years. I was a sports girl and a cheerleader!"

"Well, Kim, you've always been a trendsetter, not a follower," Kevin declared.

"Yeah," Tara continued. "Back then Bonnie Rockwaller's older sister Lonnie was varsity cheer captain, and any girls who dared challenge her and her posse for attention from the boys were The Enemy."

"And the girl who challenged Lonnie the most …" Jess began, pausing and looking to her boyfriend.

"... was my older sister Lisa," Steve finished.

"Lisa Farley?" Megan said. "I've heard of her. She was quite the athlete, wasn't she?"

"She was," Steve said. "She set a record by earning varsity letters in six different sports."

"And she was also really pretty, really friendly, and super popular," Jess explained. "Which meant Lonnie and the rest of her squad hated hated _hated _her. They went all _Mean Girls _on her for two solid years."

"What did they do?" Megan asked.

"Oh, you name it. Called her nasty names behind her back, graffitied her locker, spread ugly rumors, they even got some boys to join in," Tara said. "In fact, there was one time Steve and Kevin, the scrawniest little boys in the whole freshman class, nearly exchanged punches with some big football jock who was disparaging Lisa's virtue in the locker room."

"Wow," Megan said. "I had no idea things were like that. I'm glad Middleton High's a much better place now."

Tara took a sip of her beverage, then air-quoted, "_The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there._"

The other teens looked quizzically at the curvy blonde.

Jessica giggled. "Tara, you usually come off like such the blonde airhead, sometimes it's hard to remember you're actually smart."

"Not for me," Kevin said. "Not when she's weaving her devious traps for me on the chessboard every day."

"So what's your sister doing these days, Steve?" Kim asked. "She went on to college somewhere on the east coast, right? Philadelphia?"

"Not Philly. She's at school in the Boston area, on a softball scholarship. That was always her main sport."

"And what does she think about you dating a cheerleader?" asked Kyle.

"Lisa's past all that high-school stuff now. We get along fine," Jessica said. "She even got me this hoodie from her team for Christmas."

The others admired Jess's maroon hoodie with the college's logo, eagle mascot and the word SOFTBALL in gold letters across the front.

"So would you guys make any changes to your past if you could go back to ninth grade?" Megan inquired.

"I wouldn't take the chance," Kyle pontificated. "What if something I did caused damage to the timeline?"

"Yeah, most science fiction authors agree it's risky to go back in time and monkey with history," Kevin added.

"Time … monkey…" Ron said with a shudder.

"What is it, Ron?" Kim asked, concerned.

"_De nada, _KP," her BFBF replied, collecting himself. "Just got a weird _Degas view _feeling there for a second."

"Degas view? I think you mean d_éjà vu_, Ron. Edgar Degas was a French artist. And I don't think he painted any monkeys."

"I hope not!" Ron exclaimed. "Painting monkeys would be sick and wrong!"

The four couples continued eating for a while. Then Kim put down her fork. "You know, those words _time _and _monkey _together are giving me a gorchy feeling too. I can't figure out why."

No one knew quite what to say to that. The atmosphere at the table grew uncomfortable for everyone.

Then Jessica piped up. "Well, if I could go back in time to freshman year, I know exactly what change I'd make!"

"What's that, Jess?" her boyfriend asked.

"So, you say you had a major crush on me from the first day of school, right? As soon as you saw me in that pep rally?"

"Yeah, just like Kevin with Tara."

"Well, I'd go find freshman me and tell her that you were gonna be the boy of my dreams, and she should start hanging out with you right away! Imagine us being a couple for the last three-plus years instead of wasting all that time!"

"That would rock," Steve agreed.

"But what if something you did caused a bad change to history?" Tara said.

"Like what? I could somehow make the Russians win World War Two?"

Confused looks ensued.

"Jess," Kim said gently, "The Russians did win World War Two. They were our allies."

"Even I knew that," Ron said. "The World War Eye Eye Eastern Front Channel. Number 824 in your cable lineup, I believe."

"Well there ya go: no risk. Besides, my going back to freshman year couldn't possibly affect World War Two. That ended, like, twenty years before we were even born."

Seven teenaged tongues were bitten.

"And Tara! While I was there I could also find freshman you and get her to hook up with Kevin! Wouldn't you like that?"

"I don't know, Jess," Tara mused. "I kinda think I had to date the frogs before I could appreciate my prince."

"Oh come on, T!" Jess implored. "Wouldn't you rather skip dating that self-centered jerk Jason Morgan and those other handsy fratboys and go right for your soulmate?"

"What do you think, Kevin?" Tara asked the boy at her side.

Kevin put his arm around his long-time crush's shoulders. "I'd trust your judgement, Tara," he said confidently. "Things've worked out great for us, why mess with success?"

"Agreed," Tara replied, and the two shared a quick kiss.

"Okay, Tara, if you say so," Jessica conceded. "I promise, if I ever get the chance to time-travel I won't meddle in your love life."

All the teens laughed along with Jess and continued munching away at their late dinners.

After a while the four couples went their separate ways. Eventually the four boys escorted their young ladies safely home, as you'd expect well-brought-up young gentlemen to do in a T-rated story.

None of the eight teens gave any further thought to the absurd idea that one of them might get to journey back through time and tinker with their pasts. If they had, they would have laughed again.

Later that night, though, Jess wouldn't be laughing.

_to be continued ..._


	2. The Blonde Leading the Blonde

Note: Thanks to all who read the prologue, and particularly to gerbilHunter, CajunBear73, daccu65, MrDrP, Maeph93, Patriot44, and Sentinel103 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: All cheerleaders in this chapter are property of others.

* * *

**Later that night, Jessica's bedroom**

"_Jess–i–ca..."_

The dozing teen began to rouse herself at the sound of the mysterious, distant voice calling her name.

"_Jess–i–ca…"_

As far as she could tell, the voice emanated from a shifting, multicolored ball of light located just in front of her bedroom closet. She turned on her bedside lamp and sat up, rubbing her sapphire blue eyes.

"Jess–i–ca Sunnnnd–strummmmm…"

The strange talking ball of light slowly resolved into the figure of a girl. A blonde girl in a short red skirt and a midriff-baring cheer top emblazoned with RCH in block letters.

Jessica recognized her instantly. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got to her feet as the girl began to speak. "Be not afraid, Jessica Sundstrum. I mean you no harm. I am —"

"You're Torrance Shipman from the original _Bring It On _movie!" Jess said excitedly. "I love that flick! Oh, this is gonna be a fun dream, I can tell!"

"You are not dreaming, Jessica Sundstrum. I have come to give you a great gift. I am … The Cheerleader of Forever."

"Really? 'Cause you sure look like Kirsten Dunst in the _Bring It On _poster on my closet door."

"This form is one of many that I take, yes. But in fact, I am —"

"You can change your form? Cool! What else you got?"

"I chose this form because I knew of your affinity for the famous fictional blonde cheerleaders of film and television." The Cheerleader of Forever rapidly morphed herself into doubles of Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennett from the TV series _Heroes_, then Cassie Scerbo as Brooke from _Bring It On: In It to Win It_; then Sarah Michelle Gellar from the season one "Witch" episode of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_; Aly Michalka as Marti Perkins from _Hellcats; _Hayden Panettiere again, this time as Britney Allen from _Bring It On: All Or Nothing_; then Tara Monroe—

"Wait a sec, why take Tara's form? I mean, sure, the girl's got a sensational form. But Tara's not fictional; she's my best friend. She's as real as I am."

"Oh … right. What was I thinking?" the Cheerleader of Forever said awkwardly. "You and Tara ... totally real." The Tara lookalike changed back into Torrance Shipman and remained that way. "Why don't we just get to the purpose of my visit to you? This scene is starting to drag a bit."

"Okay, I'm game."

"Jessica Sundstrum, I present you with—"

"Y'know, we could move along quicker if you dropped the last name and just called me Jess."

The Cheerleader of Forever rolled her eyes. Well, Kirsten Dunst's eyes. Or her representation of Kirsten Dunst as Torrance Shipman's eyes. Assuming "her" is the correct pronoun for a timeless being with no gender as we humans understand it. Whatever.

"Here, Jess, take this." The Cheerleader of Forever—maybe we'll just call her Torrance from now on—held out her hands, and an object materialized in them. A long, slender cylindrical object, multicolored and decorated with ribbons and sequins. It seemed alive, shimmering and sparkling with otherworldly energy. Jess reached out and took hold of the object.

"A Spirit Stick! Wow, what an honor!"

"That is not a Spirit Stick, Jess. You hold in your hand the _Tempus Fustis Vigoris."_

"Um, let's suppose I'm not a Latin scholar."

"Well, basically it means Time Spirit Stick. It grants you the power to travel through time to any point in your cheer career and observe it. Or — but I certainly don't recommend this — try to change it for the better."

"Cool! Just like what my friends and I were talking about at the food court tonight. I guess that explains why I'm having this dream."

"I repeat: you are not dreaming. This is really happening."

"So, I could go back as far as the day I made the cheer squad? First day of freshman year?"

"Correct. Or forward, to the end of your cheer career."

Jess looked down at the object in her hand, then cast her gaze toward a framed photo hanging on the wall behind Torrance. "Okay, I hate to look a gift time travel device in the mouth, but what if I needed to go back further? Say, about ten years?"

Torrance shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Jess. I understand why you're asking and I wish I could help you, but the power of the _Tempus Fustis _is limited."

"So you know about the accident? Well, duh, you're just part of my dream, of course you know."

"Again, Jess, this is all real. I swear, if you say the D word one more time I will take back the Spirit Stick and give it to another cheerleader."

"No!" Jess cried, hugging the Stick close to her chest. "I can most def put this to good use. If there's no hope at all for a ten-year jump?"

"I'm afraid not. A far more powerful artifact called the _Tempus Simia _idol could have helped you, but unfortunately that object no longer exists in any known timeline."

"Again with the Latin. So, how does this thing work?"

"You simply think about the time and place you want to revisit, and then wave the _Tempus Fustis Vigoris _in the air like so." Torrance mimed the action.

"There are a couple more things you need to know. First, you must not let go of the Stick at all."

"Every cheerleader knows it's bad luck to drop a Spirit Stick."

"Yes, but you mustn't even lay it down gently or let another hold it. Starting from the moment you took possession of it."

"But have to get dressed! I can't go to Middleton High like this! I've had dre– uh, nightmares where I was at school like this, and they just never go well."

"Do not worry, the Stick will dress you appropriately. And you need to know you will only be in your past for a short time."

"How short?"

"That is difficult to say. It depends on various factors including the flow of temporal energies around certain Singularities forming in far-distant nebulae. Expect say, thirty to sixty of your 'minutes'."

"Okay, should be plenty of time. And then I return here?"

"If you simply observe, you will return here, and I will retrieve the _Tempus Fustis_. If you interfere with the past—which, again, I do not recommend—you might join your altered life in some other time and place."

"Got it. So, has any cheerleader ever gone back and just observed, like you recommend?"

"I would rather not answer that."

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Please, Jess, I urge you in the strongest terms to take care: it is very dangerous to—"

"Yeah yeah, I've heard the lecture: dangerous to fiddle with the Time Stream. But c'mon, what could happen? It's not like getting a couple of fifteen year olds to hang out is gonna make the Nazis win the Korean War or something."

"One can never predict which seemingly inconsequential changes to the past will have disastrous effects on the timeline."

"Well, I'm ready to take the chance to make my first few years at Middleton High a lot better," Jess declared.

She waved the _Tempus Fustis _in an arc overhead and watched expectantly as tiny flickering particles formed in its wake. The particles wafted down over her and soon obscured all traces of her familiar bedroom and the current date.

When her vision cleared, she saw she was now standing in the cheer squad locker room at Middleton High.

_to be continued... _


	3. Past Performance

Note: Thanks to all who've been reading, and particularly to Jimmy1201, CajunBear73, Maeph93, daccu65, MrDrP, and gerbilHunter for reviewing the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: Disney owns the _Kim Possible _characters.

* * *

_**… Is No Guarantee of Future Results**_

* * *

**Middleton High, Cheer squad room**

Jess looked around the familiar locker room.

Familiar, but different. Jess knew that the cozy, comfortable space, which was reserved for cheer squad use thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Cheerleader Alumnae Association, was repainted and freshened up every few years. The faded paint on these walls looked like the color she remembered from freshman year. It seemed she really was in her past.

Then she checked herself out in one of the many mirrors. As Torrance had said, the magical Spirit Stick she was still clutching tightly had changed her out of her pajamas and into her senior year cheer uniform. Jess was pleased: she preferred this new uniform to the old one with the solid-color top. She liked how it flattered her figure, and she always felt at her prettiest and most capable when wearing it. She looked closer and saw that the _Tempus Fustis _had even done her hair and makeup as expertly as she'd ever managed.

Mindful of the time pressure she was under, she looked at the schoolroom clock over the door. Nearly the top of the hour with one period left in the school day. The bell would ring in a few minutes and her freshman self would come to this room, since all the cheerleaders were excused from the last period class to prepare for the pep rally.

And all the varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders would also come here. That was not good. How would she explain herself to Lonnie Rockwaller and all the other girls? She'd never get a chance to finish her mission. Better make a new plan.

Jess decided to leave the locker room and head for the hallway where most ninth-grade classes were held, knowing that was the best place to find her younger self.

Just then the door opened and Lonnie Rockwaller stepped in.

The reigning cheer captain stopped short, surprised to see an unfamiliar face in her domain.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in our locker room? And where did you get that cheer uniform? Those are our colors, but that's not our uniform. What's going on here?"

Jess was in trouble. _Gotta think of something!_

It didn't have to be good — Bonnie's blonde sister was not exactly the sharpest pleat in the cheer skirt — just something to distract her long enough to get Jess out of this room.

"I… am…" she began. Finally an idea formed. "From the cheer uniform supplier. I have great news for you: Your squad has won a contest. The prize is a new set of uniforms like this one, absolutely free!"

Lonnie wasn't entirely pleased. "Free uniforms? Do they have to be like that one? I don't like the long sleeves. Sleeveless is better."

"We can make a few changes if you want. Tell you what, let me go get my catalogs and more samples. I left them in my car. Be right back!" And Jess slipped past Lonnie and out of the room.

She arrived at the correct hallway intersection just as the bell rang and disoriented students poured out of the classrooms.

It was easy for Jess from her elevated twelfth-grade vantage point to pick out the blonde heads among the shorter students, and soon she located her target.

"Jessie!" she called, waving. The younger, shorter, skinnier version of her stopped and stared.

"Okay," Jessie said. "We're obviously related. Are you some cousin on Mom's side I never met before? OMG, has something happened to Mom? Is that why you're here? And why are you wearing a cheer uniform in our school colors and carrying a spirit stick?"

Jess laid a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Whoa, hold on there, kid, everything's fine. I'm just gonna say this right away, 'cause I'm under some time pressure here. My name is Jess Sundstrum, but I'm not your relative. I'm you, from the future."

"No way!"

"Way."

"That's stupid," Jessie said, and pushed Jess's hand away. She began walking away.

"Wait, Jessie," Jess said "it's true."

"That's impossible," the younger girl snapped. "Nobody gets to travel through time. And if by some miracle I did ever get the chance, I certainly wouldn't waste it coming here. If you're me, you know there's only one date I'd want to travel back to: —"

"April ninth," the two Jessicas said in unison, adding the year they had turned eight years old.

"To try to stop the accident," Jess said solemnly. "To save Dad."

"So why didn't you?" Jessie asked, wiping tears from her freckled cheeks.

"Believe me, kiddo, I wanted to. But this magical time-traveling spirit stick," Jess held up the _Tempus Fustis, _"only lets me travel within my cheer career."

"Well, that's just lazy writing," Jessie said.

Jess shrugged.

"So where'd you find a magic spirit stick?"

"I was home in bed when Torrance from _Bring It On _appeared in my room and gave it to me_._"

"Torrance from _Bring It On _appeared in your room?"

"Yeah. Well, she called herself the Cheerleader of Forever, but she looked just like Torrance. Frankly, I'm still kinda thinking this is all a dream, but Torrance yells at me when I say that, so I'm going along with it for now."

"Well, you can't be dreaming 'cause I know I'm not dreaming."

"Yeah, but isn't that just what you'd tell me if I was dreaming you?"

Both Jessicas considered this.

"So," Jessie said, "you're… what? Sixteen or seventeen?"

Jess nodded. "Seventeen. It was February of senior year when I left, so I'll be eighteen in a few months."

Jessie looked her older self over. "So that's what I'm going to look like when I'm a senior," she mused.

Jess grinned wryly. "Try not to sound too enthused, you'll make me all big-heady."

"No! Really! I'm happy. You're actually kind of hot."

" '_Kind of'_?"

"Well, I mean, I did sorta hope I'd be filling out the cheer top a little better by senior year…"

Jess rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it."

"And the freckles… no hope of covering them up?"

Jess shook her head. "Sorry, you're going to have to live with them. Every concealer I ever tried just gives me acne. Spend your allowance at Club Banana instead. Clothes make the girl."

"Good advice. So is that all you traveled through time to tell me?"

"Oh, no. That's just a little bonus. I really came to tell you about a boy you should make friends with as soon as you can. I mean like today. He's my boyfriend back where I came from, and he's the most amazing guy ever."

"Really? So, what's this amazing hottie's name?"

"Steve Farley."

"Who?"

"Steve Farley. He's —"

Suddenly Jess was grabbed by the arm and spun around forcefully, nearly losing her grip on the _Tempus Fustis _and bringing on… well, Torrance had warned her not to drop it, she hadn't said what would happen. Maybe it would cause irreparable harm to the Space-Time Continuum. Maybe she'd just be changed back into her PJs and bed hair. Probably should have asked.

At the moment, however, Jess found herself looking into the narrowed eyes of a pretty but very angry brunette. Steve's sister.

"Lisa!" she said happily, before remembering the circumstances. This Lisa didn't know her.

"Okay," Lisa Farley said in a low, menacing voice, "I don't know who you are, but you're obviously one of Lonnie Rockwaller's minions. So why am I hearing my little brother's name from your lips?"

"Hey, I am nobody's min—"

"Shut up, Blondie. Look, I'm sorry that Lonnie can't deal with the fact that Connor Waverley asked me to Spirit Dance instead of her and decided to kick off this little cheerleaders versus sports girls war we've been having for the last year, but you can tell her this for me: the war stays between us. Families are Off Limits, understand? Mess with my baby bro and stuff gets turned up to eleven. I swear I will rain holy hell down upon Lonnie, and you, and all the rest of your little coven. Are we clear?"

Before Jess could form a reply, a new voice was heard from. "Sis, I thought we agreed you weren't going to call me 'baby bro' any more. Especially here at school."

Jess looked to her right, then down. Wow, that's freshman Steve. And that's Kevin Guberman with him.

The boys hadn't been kidding when they'd told her they were always the shortest boys in the class until Steve's growth spurt in junior year. They were several inches shorter than Jessie. Even Kim's younger brothers, who'd skipped ahead two grades to become Middleton freshmen at age 12 back in Jess's time, were as tall as this Steve and Kevin.

And of course this Steve had spent no time in the MHS weight room. The ripped, muscular bod Jess had so much trouble keeping her hands off was nowhere in evidence. She almost wished she could stick around to watch it develop from this unpromising seed, but at least Jessie would have the chance.

If she so chose.

Jess had time for these thoughts, since Lisa was no longer in her face. Steve was explaining to his sister that he was in high school now and able to fight his own battles.

While this was going on, Jess noticed a familiar platinum-haired bundle of weapons-grade cuteness approach Jessie.

"Jessie," freshman Tara said, "come on, we have to go get ready for the pep rally."

Jessie held up a finger to signal Tara to wait a moment.

Tara then edged over to Kevin and began engaging him in conversation. Jess only caught a few snippets, including "Is that a chess set you have there?" and talk of perhaps the two playing chess during lunch next week.

Lisa finally agreed to let her brother deal with his own issues and backed off, though she did point at her own eyes and then at Jess in an 'I'll be watching you' warning gesture before finally turning and walking away.

The hallway was mostly empty now; most students had entered their classrooms. "We gotta get to class, Steve," young Kevin said.

"One sec, Kev," Steve said, "I just want to find out what Lisa was so worked up about?"

"Beats me," Jess said, "I was just telling my friend Jessie here that you were going to be a good baseball player for Middleton. She's a huge baseball fan."

"Really," Steve said. "What's your favorite major league team?"

"Um, Dallas Cowboys?" Jessie answered.

"Ohhh–kay," Steve said. "Well, see you guys around. C'mon, Kev." And the two boys entered a nearby classroom just as the bell rang.

The two Jessicas and Tara were alone in the hall now.

"So, are you Jessie's sister?" Tara asked. "You're really pretty. You never told me you had a sister on the varsity squad, Jessie. So are those new uniforms? I like them. Will us ninth graders get uniforms like those?"

"She's not my sister, she's senior-year me, from the future."

"Really? Wow, that's something you don't see every day. How'd that happen?"

"Magical spirit stick," Jess said, showing Tara the _Tempus Fustis_.

"Cool!" Tara said. "Where do you find sequins that pulsate and change color like that?"

Jess looked closer at the _Tempus Fustis, _which truly was showing signs of activity. "I'm not sure, but I think this means I only have a minute or so left here in the past." She turned to Jessie. "Okay, maybe Steve doesn't look like your dream boyfriend now, but I'm telling you by junior year that boy's gonna turn into six feet of gorgeous hunk."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Tara said. "Both those boys were kinda cute."

"It's true! Maybe it could happen even sooner, if someone convinces him to start the weight workouts earlier."

"Maybe," Jessie said dubiously, "and if it does I'll be happy to date him — once we're seniors and there are no older guys around. But c'mon, Tara, we're cheerleaders! Like Bonnie says: sophomores, even juniors, will be asking us for dates soon. We can't be wasting our time with freshman boys. And by the way, since when do you play chess?"

"Look girls," Jess said, frustrated, as multicolored bands of chronal energies from the _Tempus Fustis _began to envelop her form. "Bonnie Rockwaller is not the good friend she pretends to be. Bonnie is only in it for Bonnie; she wants you two to be part of her posse — emphasis on HER. If you don't believe anything else I've told you, please, at least believe that…"

Tara and Jessie watched as the older girl slowly faded away in mid-speech and the strange, otherworldly light show winked out.

"Well, I bet that's the weirdest thing we'll see in our high school careers," Tara observed as the girls began walking toward the cheer squad room.

"Unless we go to cheer camp and a crazed muck monster attacks us," Jessie suggested.

"Or space aliens disrupt our graduation ceremony," Tara agreed, giggling.

"Or…"

_until next time —_


	4. Welcome to Dystopia

Thanks to all who've been reading, and particularly to CajunBear73, daccu65, Jimmy1201, MrDrP, and Patriot44 for reviewing the previous chapter.

* * *

**Welcome to Dystopia, Population: Jess and friends**

* * *

**Middleton High, gymnasium**

"Jessie? Are you okay?"

Jessica felt dizzy.

She tried to sit down, but realized she was already seated. She remembered she had been standing in E Hall, talking to Tara and… someone else. Now she was in the bleachers in the Middleton High gym. Down on the court some boys were playing basketball. She was sitting next to Tara. Her friend had a concerned expression on her face.

"Tara? What just happened?"

"You were telling me about your date the other night, and then you got this blank look on your face for a few seconds," her curvaceous friend said. "Like a really long blonde moment. And how long have you been holding that spirit stick? I don't remember you having that before."

The magical spirit stick! That snapped Jess out of her fog. She had time-traveled back to freshman year, and now she'd returned — not to her room at home that Friday night after the movie date, but to a different time and place. The Cheerleader of Forever had told her that might happen if she changed her past.

"Tara, remember the first day of freshman year, when senior me came back in time?"

Tara looked around nervously. "Jessie, I thought we agreed we shouldn't talk about that around other people," she whispered.

"We did? Well, I didn't know that because I'm not the Jessie you decided that with. I haven't even been called Jessie since freshman year. I'm Jess the time-traveler, just back from that day."

"I'm confused. You're not the same Jessica Sundstrum I've been chatting with for the last ten minutes?"

"No. To me, literally seconds ago I was back in time talking to freshman you and me when things got all blurry and when they cleared up, I was here."

"So what does all this mean?"

"I think it means I changed my past, but I have no idea what changes I made." She looked herself and Tara over, quickly spotting one obvious difference: both girls were wearing the older, sleeveless cheer uniforms.

"What year is this, Tara? Are we seniors?"

"Yeah. It's February now. Valentine's Dance is tonight, then we have the winter break next week."

"So where's the senior year uniform?" Jess wondered.

"Oh! I remember that uniform!" Tara gushed. "She— I mean, you— looked sooo hot in that."

"Yeah, it looked great on me" Jess concurred. "But you looked absolutely fantastic in it. All of us did. And these uniforms," she added, gesturing toward Tara and herself, "are way past their prime. Why didn't Kim buy the new ones?"

Surprise and consternation were evident on Tara's pretty face. "... Kim?" she said, as if unsure of the word's significance.

Just then a shout was heard from the boys down on the court: "Head's up!" A deflected basketball was streaking toward the two cheerleaders. Jess, still disoriented, sat frozen in its path. Tara, fortunately, recovered her wits in time to catch the errant missile before it struck Jess. She tossed it down to the tall, lanky boy who'd come to the foot of their bleacher section. "Here you go, Jason," she said in a friendly tone.

Jess was more than a little surprised that Tara could be so cordial toward Jason Morgan. The basketball star was the last and (by a wide margin) worst of the many boys the platinum blonde beauty had dated before meeting her 'soulmate' Kevin last summer back in the old timeline. Their bad breakup and its aftermath had made Jason's name mud among Jess and Tara's circle.

Then Jason, twirling the ball on his finger, said, "So Jessie, about tonight? Pick you up at your place, or should we meet at the dance?"

Jess's surprise became shock. _I'm dating _**him**_?! What's happened to me? Where's my Stevie?_

Then a shrill whistle blew down on the court. "MORGAN! Five laps of the gym, NOW! Cheerleaders — outta my practice! Move it!" the basketball coach yelled.

Tara helped Jess to her feet and led her down to the floor and toward the doors leading out of the gym. "She'll meet you at the dance, Jason," she said to the jogging boy as they passed each other. "Robbie and I can pick her up on our way." Out of the gym, the two girls turned left toward the cheer squad locker room.

* * *

Tara opened the door and gestured for Jess to go in. They found the room empty except for one girl, tying her sneaker. She was a sophomore on the junior varsity squad whom Jess didn't know very well. One of a pair of identical twins who'd come to Middleton all the way from Dorset, in the southwest part of England; long-legged girls with blonde ringlets, quite remarkably pretty.

"Hullo Tara, Jessie!" the girl said in her posh accent.

Jess could never tell the two sisters apart, and had trouble remembering their names. One was possibly called Caroline, or maybe Charlene.

"Jessie, word in the D-hall loo is that Jason Morgan's asked you to the Valentine's Dance," the girl continued, a broad cheerleader smile adorning her friendly, ingenuous face. "Well done you!"

"Charlotte..." Tara said.

_Right, that's her name, _Jess said to herself. _Charlotte Aubrey. And her sister is… Toni? No, that's wrong; there's a double consonant in the middle. Maybe it's… Emmy?_

"Could you give us some privacy?" Tara continued. "It's a senior thing …"

"Brilliant!" Charlotte replied, and she gathered up her backpack and her purple-and-gold pom-poms and headed for the door.

Before she reached it, however, she stopped in her tracks as a vacant look came over her bright blue eyes.

Tara leaned in closer to Jess. "That's just the way you looked back in the gym when you … when whatever happened ..." she whispered. "Charlotte? Are you feeling all right?"

Charlotte's little episode ended quickly, and Jess and Tara both sensed there was something different about her. "I don't think she's Charlotte anymore. She's Torrance." Jess said.

"Wait, Torrance?" Tara said. "Like from _Bring It On_?"

"Hello, Tara," the girl said, still using Charlotte's accent. "I'm the Cheerleader of Forever, but you can call me Torrance."

"You know me?"

"Oh yes, I know you. In fact, when I first appeared in Jess's room—about an hour ago by her reckoning—I showed her how I can change my form, and I imitated your appearance along with several famous movie cheerleaders. I have to say, though, I don't think I quite did your figure justice. It's positively smashing."

"Um, thanks," Tara said. "So have you been imitating Charlotte all this time? What about her twin sister? Is she you too?"

"No, I just took control of this body a few moments ago, much as Jess has moved into the Jessie that you've known these last four years."

"So how come you still sound all _Downton Abbey_?" Jess asked.

"Do I?" Torrance said, very confused. "How curious. That's not supposed to happen."

"Maybe British girls' controls are on the other side of their brains," Tara suggested.

"Well, that's not important. When I collect the _Tempus Fustis Vigoris—"_

"The whatsit?" Tara interjected.

"The magical spirit stick," Torrance clarified. "When I collect that and leave here, Charlotte will go back to normal."

"And what about me?" Jess asked.

"You'll quickly forget about the timeline you left, and your memories of this new one you've made will return." She held out her hand, waiting for Jess to give her the spirit stick.

Jess made no move to hand the magical object over.

"Come on, Jess, give me the _Tempus Fustis. _There's not a minute to be lost."

"Why? What's the rush?" Jess asked.

"Oh, I suppose there's no real urgency. I don't even know why I said that last bit. It's just something Charlotte's father says a lot. Apparently bits of her consciousness are mixing with mine."

"Well, I think I want to hear about the changes I made before I give you the stick back."

Torrance shrugged. "I'm the Cheerleader of Forever. I have all the time in the world."

"Okay, so why am I not dating Steve? Why am I with Jason Morgan? And Tara, who's this 'Robbie' you're going to the dance with tonight? What happened to Kevin? When—"

Torrance threw up her hands. "Jess! Stop! All your questions will be answered if you'll just be patient."

Jess clamped her lips shut.

"Okay, well, where to begin?" Torrance began. "All in all, I have to say, Jess, your little excursion to your past has turned out to be one of the most fascinating such I've ever witnessed. So many far-reaching consequences from such a brief visit. I'm frankly amazed at the way young Jessie seized on your helpful advice and used it over these last few years."

"My advice!? I told her to find Steve and become his girlfriend ASAP. If I helped her so much why is she dating Jason the Jerk?"

"Wait, what's wrong with Jason?" Tara asked. "He seems an okay guy to me."

"Yes, well, it's true young Jessie didn't take **all **your advice," Torrance allowed. "But remember at the very end when you told her to avoid becoming too friendly with Bonnie Rockwaller? Both Jessie and young Tara took that suggestion to heart, with quite dramatic results. And that bit about buying trendier clothes instead of wasting money on makeup that not only failed to cover her freckles but caused embarrassing pimples? Life-changing. Yes, Jessie has quite enjoyed living her high school years in this timeline as a pretty, fashion-forward teen ranking high on the Food Chain."

"Wasn't she all that where she came from?" Tara asked.

"Only from Junior Prom on. Before that she was considered a minor follower in Bonnie's posse, with a bad complexion and an unflattering Smarty Mart wardrobe."

"Ow! That's harsh!" Jess protested, "but ... fair."

"I don't get it," Tara said. "With Jessie's looks and personality, how could she be anything but popular?"

"It was hanging with Bonnie," Jess said. "She had this way of making me feel bad about myself. She'd say something like, '_Oh Jess, you'd be so pretty if only…' _and she'd start on something I should change, like my freckles or my hairstyle or my weight or whatever. And it worked. Guys mostly didn't look at me because I stayed out of the spotlight hoping my 'flaws' wouldn't be noticed."

"So what changed?"

"I started dating Steve. He was always telling me how beautiful I was. I mean, at first I assumed it was empty flattery; I figured he was just trying to get into my pants. But then I realized he was totally sincere and it made me feel really good. And once I started believing I was Steve's hottie, I began to notice other guys looking at me like they thought I was hot, too."

Tara thought about this. "So I hung around with Bonnie in your world too, right? Did she try the same thing with me?"

"A little," Jess said. "But it didn't work nearly as well. Even if you got a little down on yourself, nothing could stop boys from lusting after that amazing bod of yours."

Tara rolled her azure eyes.

"But anyway, the Steve Farley matter seems easy to fix. I'll just dump Jason and throw myself at Steve and we'll be golden. He does still go to school here, right?"

Tara and Torrance exchanged awkward looks. "He's still here," Torrance said.

"Oh, but he's probably in a relationship already. Is she a friend of ours? If not I'm sure I could take him away from her; he considers me the most beautiful girl alive."

"He's not dating anybody at the moment," Tara said.

"Okay, so we'll come back to that. Now, it seems like other things have changed here. Like, why are we still in these ratty old uniforms? And Tara, why did you get all weirded out when I mentioned Kim Possible back in the gym?"

Tara looked very uncomfortable. "Kim … doesn't go to school here any more. And it's all my fault."

"You're kidding! What happened?"

"Well, it all started when the squad got stuck at this deserted summer camp and Ron saved us from a crazy mutant."

"Oh, the same thing happened in my timeline, too."

"Yeah? So anyway, after it was over I wanted to thank Ron."

"I remember. I blew him a kiss, and you … wait a sec, is this going where I think it's going? Did Ron ask you out like you were hoping?"

Tara nodded 'yes.'

"Well, technically Ron never asked her out," Torrance clarified. "It was just sort of understood that they were a couple after they snogged in the back of the bus all the way home to Middleton."

Jess gaped at Torrance, aghast. " 'Snogged'?"

"Sorry, that's the British girl's influence again," Torrance said. "I mean they made out."

"I know what 'snogged' means," Jess said. "I'm just surprised that Tara …" Words failed her.

"You'll find that Tara's quite a bit more demonstrative with boys than she was in your timeline."

"I like to fool around with boys," Tara said defiantly. "Was I not like that where you come from?"

"Oh, the Tara I knew was all about the snogging," Jess admitted with a wry grin. "Once she found the right snogee, at least. But I suppose Kim wasn't happy about you and Ron?"

"She didn't seem to mind at first. We dated for a couple of months and things were going well. I encouraged Ron to keep going with Kim on their missions, and even spend lots of one-on-one friend time with her."

"Really?" Jess said.

"Sure, why not?" Tara said. "It's not like I had to worry that Kim was going to make a move on him. She was never going to see him as boyfriend material."

Now it was Jess's turn to share an awkward glance with Torrance.

"But then one Friday night Ron and I were at the movies when a mission came up. Ron had accidentally dropped his cell phone into his giant soda, and the battery died on mine, so we didn't get Kim's calls. She went out alone, and she got hurt."

"Bad?"

"Not too bad, just a sprained ankle. She was really mad at us, though. Said we'd deliberately ignored her calls, wouldn't let us visit her all weekend, and when she came back to school on Monday she was using crutches to get around, and still shooting Ron and me ugly looks whenever she saw us. Then this woman with an eyepatch showed up at school and called Kim into a classroom in C Hall. We never saw her again."

"How does someone disappear from a classroom?" Jess wondered.

Tara shrugged. "Someone said they heard this 'whoosh' sound like something getting sucked into a vacuum cleaner, and when they went into the room there was nobody there. Just Kim's crutches leaning against the teacher's desk."

"And nobody knows where she is?"

Tara shook her head. "Rumor is she's enrolled in a training academy for some kind of secret international security agency."

"That's actually true," Torrance said. "They're called Global Justice."

"Ron was really upset," Tara continued, "and then a few days later he disappeared too. His house was empty, with a for-sale sign out front, and the neighbors said they'd moved to Norway."

"Norway?"

"Yeah. But there's another rumor that he's in Japan."

Torrance remained silent. Spilling Dr. Betty Director's secrets was one thing, but not even the Cheerleader of Forever dared breach the privacy of Master Sensei of Yamanouchi.

"I guess Bonnie's running the squad by herself now?" Jess mused.

"Bonnie? Oh, no, Bonnie quit cheerleading back in freshman year. She's into sports now. Field hockey and soccer mostly. Crystal's the cheer captain."

"Yes, without you and Tara in her posse Bonnie couldn't build a strong power base for herself among the cheer squad," Torrance explained. "The girl athletes were her Plan B, and she's done well."

Tara nodded. "She's one of the most popular girls in school. She's dating the football quarterback."

"Not Kyle Monson?!"

Tara nodded again.

"But what about Megan?"

"Megan who?"

"Megan Hadley. She and Kyle have been a couple since last summer. She's one of our best friends."

Tara was still confused.

"Come on, really? You must know Megan!? How can you miss a girl who's nine feet tall and fifty pounds!"

"She's very tall and slender," Torrance said to Tara. "But not nine feet tall."

"Yeah, Jessie's often given to hyperbole," Tara observed. "Wait … Hadley … Does this girl play volleyball?"

"Yes," Jess and Torrance chorused.

"Okay, I know who she is. I saw her interviewed on the local sports report on TV last month. They said she's the most heavily recruited female high school athlete in the whole country, all the colleges with big women's volleyball programs are throwing scholarship offers at her. But she goes to that Catholic prep school across town, not here."

"That all fits, except in my world she transferred here from Cardinal Fermoyle after sophomore year."

"Well, in this world she stayed at Fermoyle for one simple reason," Torrance said. "Middleton High cut their girls' volleyball program two years ago."

"Along with a whole bunch of other sports," Tara added.

This was the most surprising news Jess had heard yet. The Middleton High school board and the administration both believed athletics were important to the development of well-rounded young men and women. The school had always maintained a large and well-funded athletics program, proudly taking on all comers in sports from Archery to … well, if there were a sport starting with 'Z,' Mad Dog athletes would compete in it.

"... what? Why…?"

"Tara," Torrance said, "I think Jess needs to see the Farley boy before we explain further."

"Maybe… do you know where he is?" Tara said.

Torrance nodded. "The baseball team is having a preseason workout on the field. He's there."

"Really?" Tara said, sounding surprised.

"Where else would the team captain be?" Jess said.

Torrance led the other two out of the locker room and out to the baseball field.

The workout was starting to break up as the late-afternoon sun began to set on the dusty diamond. Jess eagerly searched for Steve among the players. She didn't see him in the infield, nor was he among the boys gathered around home plate, or even in the outfield. "I don't see him," she fretted. "You said he was out here, Torrance, but where?"

Torrance pointed toward the dugout, where the equipment manager was gathering up the team's gear. It was Steve, but he was noticeably smaller and less well developed than he'd been in the old timeline. Jess felt confused and angry as she noticed some of the players shooting him looks of contempt as they passed on their way to the locker room. Then when he began gathering up the baseballs scattered around, she saw that he was mostly using his left hand. Whenever he tried grasping a ball with his right hand, it was obvious that something was wrong with it.

The trio headed back to the cheer squad room as Torrance and Tara explained that during freshman year Steve had begun the weight-training program that, in Jess's world, he had put off until junior year. Unfortunately the youngster's body wasn't ready for such exertion and he injured his right elbow. For weeks he tried to ignore the pain and continue exercising, but finally it was clear he needed surgery. Which didn't go well, leading to complications and post-op infections that lasted more than two years, and left him with permanent nerve damage.

"For a while there was talk he might even lose the arm," Tara finished.

Jess was silent for a long time. "And how did this lead to the school dropping a lot of sports?"

"With Steve's medical bills mounting up, his father sued the hospital and the school district for damages. After he won a big judgement, a new faction won the school board elections and demanded that all the money come out of the athletics budget. We're down to, like, two sports per season—and even those have had big cuts."

Jess could see that equipment and facilities were not as good as she remembered.

"That's why no new cheer uniforms. We're lucky to even have a squad. We're down to six girls on the varsity, only four on the JV, and the freshman squad was dropped completely."

"The irony is, winning the lawsuit didn't do Mr. Farley any good. All the money was stolen by a crooked financial advisor named Vinnie Wheeler. Then the batting cage and his other businesses failed because townspeople shunned him. He left the family a few weeks later. Steve's sister Lisa had to drop out of her expensive college and come home. She's a cashier at Smarty Mart now," Torrance added.

Jess was quiet for a long time. "This is all my fault,"she said finally.

"Now Jess, you didn't make Steve lift weights with an injured elbow…"

"All my best friends have suffered because of what I did…"

"It's not so bad," Tara insisted. "My life's been pretty good. I'm dating Robbie Norton, who's really cute and a great kisser."

"What about Steve's friend Kevin? You looked like you were getting friendly with him on that day I came back."

"Kevin Guberman? He's a good friend. We still play chess once a week or so."

"Did you guys ever date?"

"Date Kevin? Oh no, we're just buddies. I don't even think he likes me that way."

"C'mon, T, every boy likes you that way. Kevin's had a crush on you since the first moment he saw you."

"That was the old timeline, Jess," Torrance said. "Remember, you changed the past. In this timeline, Kevin and Steve didn't have their first sights of Jessie and Tara wearing cheer uniforms at the pep rally. They saw them in school clothes, with sexy senior you in a cheer outfit two feet away. Tough for even the cutest freshman girls to compete with that."

"I'll say. I've never seen any girl rock the bare midriff look the way you did in that uniform," Tara said.

Jess put her free hand to her midsection. She could easily feel that it wasn't quite as toned as she remembered being. "Yeah, neither one of us is in as good shape as we were when Kim ran the squad."

Jess went still and silent as she thought about all the changes her adventure in time had wrought. Laying aside for the moment the devastation Steve's family had endured, there was Kim and Ron — no longer friends, never mind a couple. Kyle and Megan — didn't even know each other. Tara and Kevin not a couple. She remembered how she'd specifically promised not to interfere with their love lives, during that food court dinner after the movie date. (Was it correct to say she'd promised, when her promise was still a week in the future according to this timeline? [And the promise would never be made, since the eight teens involved would never come together in this world, and the movie that had prompted the gathering didn't even exist since Jimmy Blamhammer had never met Kim and Ron and been inspired by the idea of monkey ninjas in space.] Time travel certainly was a cornucopia of disturbing concepts.)

There was only one thing she knew for certain: she'd caused this mess and it was up to her to fix it. "I have to go back!" she said.

"You can't," Torrance said. "It's time for you to give me the spirit stick back and get on with your new life."

"No! If you let me go back again I can fix everything!" Jess waved the _Tempus Fustis _over her head as she had back in her room, but nothing happened. No flickering particles of temporal energy wafted over her and she stayed stuck in her dystopia.

"C'mon, Jess," Torrance said, holding out her hand for the magical stick. "You've made your bed of moss and now it's time to roll your stones in it — AUGH! I mean, you've hatched your eggs and now you have to count your chickens before they hide in a bush. GAH! I have to get out of this British girl's head! These mangled sayings of her father's are driving me batty!"

"Why not let Jess try again, Torrance?" Tara said.

Torrance shook her head. (Charlotte's head?) "It doesn't work that way, Tara. Only one trip per cheerleader. I have to take the stick back and charge it up with chronal energy to get it ready for the next girl."

Jess alternated between waving the _Tempus Fustis_ over her head and whacking it against her other hand, trying to get it to come alive again. Finally, in frustration, she slammed it against the cinder-block wall and it broke into pieces, releasing a flash of red light.

"Wha– what did I do?" Jess asked.

"I think you may have undone your timeline changes, Jess," Tara said.

"Oh great!" Torrance complained. "Now I have to make a new _Tempus Fustis! _Do you know how much extra work you've caused me? It's not like I can just pick up temporal sequins in the craft aisle of Smarty Mart, you know …"

The rest of the Cheerleader of Forever's complaints went unheard as she, Tara and the room faded into misty darkness.

_to be concluded..._

* * *

Disclaimer: Disney owns the Kim Possible characters. Charlotte Aubrey and her father are creations of one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, the late Patrick O'Brian, CBE.


	5. Epilogue- Just a Dream?

Thanks to all who've been reading, and particularly to CajunBear73, David Falkayne, daccu65, Jimmy1201, and MrDrP for reviewing the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: Disney owns the _Kim Possible _characters.

* * *

**Middleton, Mountain Vista Condominiums**

The sudden silence when the engine was shut off woke the dozing girl.

Jessica was in the front passenger seat of Steve's Jeep. They'd arrived at her home after the movie date.

She looked to her left to see her boyfriend looking back at her from the driver's seat, a smile on his handsome face.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he said teasingly.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked, rubbing her sapphire blue eyes.

"Just a few minutes."

"I think I was having a really weird dream, but I can't remember much of it."

"A dream? Was I in it?"

"You were … but you weren't _you_, somehow. And Tara was there … and your sister … and Lonnie Rockwaller …"

"Wow, that _was _a weird dream."

"And I think one of those English girls from the JV squad."

"Oh? Charlotte, or the other one?"

"Charlotte. What, you can't remember the other twin's name either?"

"Nope."

"Huh. And I figured a stud like you would have the vitals of all the cute blondes at his fingertips."

He reached over and began to caress her freckled cheek. "Who, me? You know there's only one blonde for these fingertips. And 'cute' doesn't even begin to describe her."

Jess smiled seductively. She shifted in her seat, then leaned in close to him. "That blonde of yours? She's the luckiest girl alive," she whispered.

They kissed.

* * *

After it ended, Steve got out of the Jeep, came around to help his young lady out, and escorted her to her door.

"You want to come in for a while?" she asked hopefully.

"Love to … but I should get home. Dad wants me at work early."

She hid her disappointment and draped her lissome arms around his neck. "Well, goodnight then …"

"Goodnight." They kissed again.

When Steve pulled away he caught an odd expression on her face.

"Jess? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay … only … Doesn't it feel like we've already done this?"

"Kissed goodnight after a wonderful date? Not more than a couple hundred times, I guess."

"No. I mean tonight. I'm feeling that _déjà vu_ thing Kim and Ron talked about. It's like … we've already had _this _goodnight. I went to sleep in my bed, I dreamed that weird dream and then I was in your Jeep again."

She gazed into his eyes. "You're not feeling it?"

"No," he said. "The only funny feeling I have is this tingling sensation in my right arm. It started when I was driving, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes ago."

"Oh no!" she said, alarmed. She took the hand in both her own and examined it closely. "Where does it hurt?"

"It's not pain, just a funny feeling from my hand up to my elbow."

"What do you think it could be?"

"I think I just took too many cuts in the batting cage this afternoon. I'll be fine."

"You better be. I'd be devastated if you hurt yourself. And the baseball team needs their slugging shortstop at one hundred percent."

"Don't worry, I just want that state championship too much to leave anything to chance. Our fans are counting on it, and I don't want to disappoint them. Especially a certain sexy blonde fan."

"Just keep on loving her and you'll never disappoint her," she promised.

The two teens came together for one more long, passionate goodnight kiss and embrace, and then Jessica opened the door and disappeared inside.

* * *

Jess got herself ready for bed, still feeling vaguely as if she'd already gone through the very same process just a short while before. She picked up her hairbrush and began running it through her beautiful golden blonde tresses. Then she caught sight of a tiny flash of something in her hair. She picked it out and held it in the palm of her left hand. It appeared to be a sequin.

How curious. Where could it have come from? There'd been no squad events during the vacation week where a sequin from the cheer equipment might have stuck to her.

As she studied the tiny shimmering object, it seemed to lose all reflectance, to go dark and grey and lifeless. She reached out her right index finger and touched it. It crumbled to a fine powder that disappeared into nothingness. With it vanished also the last lingering echoes of a timeline that could have been, but wasn't.

Her mind now cleared of nebulous feelings of _déjà vu_ and ragged edges of dreams undreamt, she finished her bedtime routine and climbed under the covers.

The only worries still keeping her from untroubled slumber were of the strange tingling Steve had reported. She was sure he was right, that he'd brought it on by too much batting practice. With the boy's drive to excel and his unfettered access to all the pitching machines in the building, it was only to be expected that he'd overdo it.

She made a mental note to make him rest tomorrow, to stay out of the batting cage. He was too obsessed with the coming baseball season, with leading his team to the championship that had eluded Mad Dog nines for too many years. But tomorrow she would make sure those hands found other amusements for themselves.

As she drifted off she resolved to keep a close watch on his tendency to overwork himself. There was no need for it. The past was past, and the future would arrive at its own pace and on its own terms. She, and he, and the both of them together could be ready for it.

There was no need for undue haste.

There was time.

* * *

…


End file.
